


desert winds

by Artikka



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Force-Sensitive Rey (Star Wars), Gen, I'm so sorry bby rey, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Planet Jakku (Star Wars), Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Rey deserves better, Set-up For A Larger AU, Stormtrooper Rey, Young Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artikka/pseuds/Artikka
Summary: Rey lets out a squeak and claps a hand over her mouth, stepping backwards and out of reach of his fists. She hadn't even done anything this time, just breathed a little louder than usual—"Who's this?" Captain says, leaning over the countertop with one elbow forward. "A child?"* * * *Or, a young Rey is found on Jakku much earlier. . . by First Order Troops.
Relationships: Rey & Rey's Mother (Star Wars), Unkar Plutt & Rey
Comments: 15
Kudos: 21





	desert winds

She’s six years old when pounding, orderly footsteps march into her desert and kick up the sands and winds.

It's been exactly four hundred and twenty three days since she was left with Unkar Plutt with nothing but a dingy old tunic and the echo of a kiss on her forehead, and exactly one hundred and forty nine days since he told her to either "find a way to make yourself useful, little whelp, or _I will._ " It's been exactly three hundred and one days since she forgot what her parents used to call her because no one on Jakku called her anything but "girl," and two hundred and ninety eight days before she found a pilot's helmet in some wreckage and decided to call herself Rey. She knows these numbers are right—or, mostly right, sometimes she loses her place when trying to sound out the tally marks—because before her mother left her here with a hug and some comforting whispers, she had taught her how to count and how to spell. She's forgotten how to spell by now, but she knows she'll be dead here if she ever forgets how to count.

She's scurrying about in the shop, tidying up and trying to stay out of Unkar Plutt's way when she hears the armored footsteps marching past. She skittles over to the front window where the hulking Crolute does business and tries to peer over the counter to see what's going on. 

Even on her tiptoes, all she can see is a blur of white in the distance. It's kind of pretty, she decides. The only two colors the desert ever sees is the beige of the sand and the blue of the sky. White is rare—it reminds her of that one time she'd seen an honest to Force _cloud._

The blur of white grows closer, and the footsteps grow louder. Another half a minute and she can see that the blur is actually a group of people--five to be precise, though she thinks, squinting, that some might have stayed behind at a grey lump that could maybe be a transport.

"Blasted sandy hell." One of them grumbles, shaking out sand from one of the armor plates. "Dunno what the Commander expected us to find on _Jakku_."

"Trooper." —Trooper, that must be their name, then— "The Commander's orders are not to be questioned." It's the figure in the lead that speaks, with a decidedly icy tone. 

Suddenly, even from the distance, Rey feels Trooper go cold. Fear, maybe? It's what the scavengers feel like when Unkar Plutt kicks them out of the shelters before a sandstorm, what her mother felt like so many hundreds of days ago, what _she_ feels like when Plutt's in a _mood_. 

"No, Captain." says Trooper, snapping a quick salute.

Strange names, Rey thinks. Strange, strange names. 

She wonders where they're from.

They approach the shop.

"You," says Captain, and she does a double take before realizing that she's talking _over_ her, not at her, "Crolute! You in charge of this outpost?"

"The name" —Rey jumps and scrambles out of Unkar Plutt's way— "is _Plutt_."

There's a snicker. " _Plutt_ , then. Heard this was where to go if we were looking for some. . . direction."

"That's right," Plutt says with a grunt. "What do you all want— _you whelp, get out of my way —_"

Rey lets out a squeak and claps a hand over her mouth, stepping backwards and out of reach of his fists. She hadn't even _done_ anything this time, just breathed a little louder than usual—

"Who's this?" Captain says, leaning over the countertop with one elbow forward. "A child?"

Her visor snaps up to Plutt. "Wasn't expecting someone like you to be a parental type. Seems an awful lot more trouble than it's worth, another mouth to feed in these—" she gestures aimlessly— "difficult surroundings."

"She's help for the shop." the Crolute says shortly. "Now, what do you want?"

Trooper seems like he's about to speak, but Captain raises a hand and cuts him off. "Before we do that—" she moves closer, much to Plutt's annoyance— "is she. . . useful?"

There's a blank silence before Plutt answers carefully, "She serves her purpose."

"Let me rephrase that, then." Captain pats at something at her waist level—a blaster, maybe? "Is she more useful to you than the First Order's good favor?"

"Captain. . ." Trooper trails off hesitantly, cutting himself off at Captain's sharp gesture to the side.

Plutt scoffs. "Now wait just a _minute_ , trooper. This is _Jakku_. The First Order isn't the authority 'round here. The girl is _my_ help, and she'll stay that way."

Plutt leans back, smugness radiating off of him in waves. He seems to consider that a job well done, but Rey can feel the way the air is tense and coiled like it's about to _snap_.

"Wrong answer." Captain says cooly, pulls out the blaster, and shoots Plutt in the head.

Rey _screams_.

His body collapses onto the countertop, eyes still open and mouth twisted in a permanent grimace of shock. His head lolls to the side as one arm slips down, down, down. A curl of smoke rises up lazily from where the blast entered his forehead.

  
Rey can't tear her eyes away from the corpse.

He's _dead_. Unkar Plutt is _dead_. The only constant in her life for the past four hundred and twenty three days is dead and gone, forever. She was going to become a scavenger, she realizes numbly. She was going to become a scavenger and learn the ins and outs of ship wreckage and speeder bikes and maybe find enough junk that she wouldn't ever have to rely on nobody anymore, except her parents when they came back for her. But now Plutt is dead. 

What's going to happen to the outpost? What will the other scavengers do? How will her parents know where to find her, now that Plutt's—

"Grab the girl." Captain gestures sharply at the figures by her side. There's a blur of motion and Trooper and another figure step forward.

This manages to break through her shock.

"No!" she shouts. She can't leave Jakku, she _can't_. She doesn't care what Captain might have to offer her—if she even has anything to offer her. Does she? Or is she one of those bad ones that Plutt had scared her with stories of, that'll do who knows what to little girls like her.

She stumbles backwards in a panic, tripping and catching herself over Plutt's leg on the floor. There's a rush and suddenly she finds herself with her arms pinned behind her back, another figure in white holding her fast.

"Let me go!" she shouts, hoping wildly that maybe some scavenger will be passing by and maybe, just maybe, they might decide to step in. "Let me go!"

"Quiet, girl." Captain snaps, and the figure behind her fastens a hand over her mouth, too. "Or you'll end up like him."

Rey quickly quiets. The arms around her loosen marginally.

"Shut her up and get her to the transport." says Captain, turning away from her.

"I hear the FN corps are still short of a few recruits."


End file.
